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US Holiday Sales Slowly Pick Up After Sandy

WASHINGTON (AP) â¿¿ U.S. consumers shook off Superstorm Sandy last month and stepped up holiday shopping, helped by a steady job market and lower gas prices.

Retail sales rose 0.3 percent in November from October, reversing the previous month's decline. Sales increased mostly because Americans spent more online, bought more electronics and began to replace cars and rebuild after the storm.

And a sharp drop in gas prices lowered the overall increase. Excluding gas stations, retail sales rose a solid 0.8 percent, according to the Commerce Department report released Thursday.

Still, department store sales tumbled. And consumer confidence has slipped in recent weeks, which has raised concerns that some Americans may be growing worried about looming tax increases. That could dampen December sales. Many retailers depend on the two months of holiday shopping for roughly 40 percent of their annual revenue.

High unemployment and weak wage growth have kept consumers cautious about spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic growth. Most economists expect just slim gains in consumer spending in the final three months of the year, which should keep growth weak.

"Despite the positive numbers today ... we are not in a consumer-led recovery," said Chris Christopher, an economist at IHS Global Insight.

A Labor Department report suggested the job market is improving, which could set the stage for more spending next year.

Applications for unemployment benefits, which are a proxy for layoffs, fell by 29,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 343,000. That's the second-lowest total this year.

The drop indicates companies are cutting fewer jobs and not yet panicking about the "fiscal cliff." That's the combination of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect next month if President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers fail to reach a budget deal before then.